QUARANTINE BLOG # 261

December 16, 2020

Before going any farther, click on this Eiffel Tower time-lapse link and enjoy the incredible scene as the camera rolls through day to night and day again.

The design of the Eiffel Tower is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel, Gustave Eiffel’s civil engineering firm.  Nicknamed “La dame de fer” (“The Iron Lady”), the Eiffel Tower was constructed for the 1889 Exposition Universelle, the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution.  Initially criticized because of its design, it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.  The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world – more than 6 million people visit annually.

Work on the foundation started on the January 28, 1887.  The assembly of the supports began on July 1, 1887, and on the March 31, 1889, the Tower was finished.  Three hundred workers joined together 18,038 pieces of iron, using two and a half million rivets.

Maintenance of the tower includes applying 50 to 60 tons of paint every seven years to protect it from rust. In order to maintain a uniform appearance to an observer on the ground, three separate colors of paint are used on the tower, with the darkest on the bottom and the lightest at the top. It takes 15-18 months to completely repaint the tower.

The Tower has frequently been a significant plot element in movies.

In 1953’s The War of the Worlds, the tower and most of Paris were destroyed by the Martian attack.

The tower, along with Paris, were destroyed by a meteorite in 1998’s Armageddon.

But you will breath a sigh of relief to know that in the 24th Century, the Tower will still be standing – as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “We’ll Always Have Paris.”

No discussion of the Eiffel Tower would be complete without recounting some of the events of World War II.  When the Nazis occupied Paris in 1940, the lift cables were cut by the French so that Adolf Hitler would have to climb the steps to the summit.  The parts to repair them were allegedly impossible to obtain because of the war.  So, when visiting Paris, Hitler chose to stay on the ground.  It was said that Hitler conquered France, but did not conquer the Eiffel Tower.  The elevators of the Tower were working normally within hours of the Liberation of Paris.

For a fun view of the Tower, check out this 3-D model.  Grasp it with your mouse and give it a spin.

Now, take a tour of the Tower from the esplanade to the top.  Scroll quickly to the bottom of the page, and then slowly back up.  In the white stripe that runs horizontal across the page, click next on “1st Floor.”  Repeat this on the “2nd Floor,” and the “Top.”  And then go out into “The Gardens.”  Remember to scroll all the way to the bottom on each page and enjoy the features offered by the “Official Eiffel Tower” site.

👉  From the website mentalfloss.com and their “Amazing Fact Generator” comes the following interesting items – and an editorial comment, not from the website:

●  Not every kiss is a romantic kiss, but according to a 2015 study, less than half the world’s cultures kiss romantically at all (so why bother kissing).

●  In 1777, Frederick the Great issued an official statement urging his subjects to drink beer in the morning instead of coffee (if that had caught on there might no Starbucks today – would you miss a caramel macchiato if you never had one).

● According to one study, dunking an Oreo in milk for three seconds gives you the optimal balance of sogginess and structural integrity (what a waste of good milk, and who has nothing better to do than time how long it takes to get an Oreo soggy).

● On Good Friday in 1930, the BBC reported, “There is no news.” Instead, they played piano music (maybe ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, et al could do that several times a week).

👉  Earlier we were speaking of coffee:

Ah, the days before decaf!

👉  Here’s a quiz for the season from mentalfloss.com.  Can you match these match these lyrics to their holiday songs?  I scored 12/13, missing the one about “Rudolph a-whizzing like a Saber jet.”  Share your score in the comments.

👉  Taking the Matching Lyrics quiz, I could hear Burl Ives singing “Holly, Jolly Christmas.”  If that melody doesn’t run around in your head, click on the link and enjoy a classic.

👉  Third Wednesday of Advent

A New Governance Blown Against Our Loss

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.  The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:1-2).

Out of the stump that seemed dead, God will work a newness.  God will work a newness out of the wind – call it “spirit” – blowing life, bringing fresh possibility beyond our imagining: “The spirit of the LORD shall rest.”  The world began when the wind of God blew.  It is such a wind that will baptize Jesus with power and authority, after all the old pedigrees of Abraham had failed and could produce no heirs and no future.  It is the same wind that blows against despair and unfaith and creates a church with power and courage.  Such a wind creates worlds, empowers Jesus, makes the church possible.  Such a wind we cannot explain or control or summon or resist.

We know about endings of church, families, businesses, dynasties, even worlds.  We know that our best arrangements grow feeble, gasp, and terminate.  The endings are clear even when they hurt so much.  Now in this poem, we know about beginnings from the only self-starter.  The beginnings are so odd.  Our faith counters hurtful  endings with this stupendous poem. 

The blowing of newness is not ours.  Ours is response, receptivity, repentance, good fruit, beginning again.  We scarcely have language for the gift.  But we notice the gift and the wind, and we move toward them with yearning.  We go then with the child, the lions, the snakes, the lambs, the creatures, all creatures, created again, only by the wind.  We come to know the child of David through whom that wind, that Spirit,  continues to blow new life!

God of the wind, open us once again to your power of newness.  We know all about endings; we know all about the weariness that comes from propping up old realities.  Free us for a new beginning this Advent season.  Amen.

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